Trying to Fatten Me Up???

I think my husband is trying to fatten me up ... I received this yesterday afternoon:

It is so full of dark chocolate... I am going to enjoy it so much on Saturday... YEP... I think I will eat it all (I might share a little with the kids... : ) maybe NOT) on Valentine's Day while watching a great romantic comedy... You've Got Mail, Notting Hill, Pretty Woman, American President, The Holiday, Gidget, Pillow Talk, Runaway Bride.... maybe I will watch them all and miss Joe and eat chocolate... and PLAN next Valentine's Day!

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The littles were so excited to go to school today as they were celebrating Valentine's Day! 8:40am could not come fast enough for them!

We made little goody bags for their classmates with a few little treats inside. For the actual valentine, I bought a handful of different $1 packs from the dollar store. It was so fun watching the girls pick the "best" card for each of their classmates. It took us over an hour to pick and sign cards for 20 children. It was so much fun listening to them vocalize the selection process. Lilli says, "Katlyn is a girl and she is my good friend. I like Tinkerbell so she likes Tinkerbell, but I am going to pick the ice cream one for her". OK... I got that logic! Abby pretty much picked Lightning McQueen and Toy Story for all the boys and Kung Fu Panda and Nemo for the girls.

It has finally "clicked" with me that Lilli is at her best when she is 100% focused on a task at hand. Her days must be structured and busy. Down time is naughty time for her. I do get an occasional 30 minutes of video time... watching Mulan or Sky Dancers??????? or Dora. But at all other times... she must have a task to focus on. I am a fly by the seat of my pants girl so this is a bit of a stretch for me. I am learning how to plan my days from morning until night so that we have activities mixed with outdoor play (also very important for Lilli to burn off excess energy that would otherwise be put to good use in our house getting into something off limits!) Throw in three meals, a few healthy snacks (ok ok occasional junk food!) a nap, a little down time in front of a video or Leapster... and our days are good. Lilli especially likes arts and crafts... anything that she can do with scissors and stickers is GOOODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD in her book! Abby goes along with anything... as long as she can be "cool" doing it!

Based on this "ah-ha" moment, I have decided to enroll Lilli in school 5 days a week next year. She and Abby will continue at their current school. Abby will start Kindergarten in the fall and Lilli will move into the 4 year old preschool class. They will both go to school M-F from 9 until 1. The school, which is run by a local Methodist Church, is phenomenal. Abby has learned so much... and is so ready for Kindergarten. I am sure Lilli will blow away the 4 year old teacher next year with her smarts too!

Off to run errands... Happy Valentine's Day!